Buffing-machine.



W. A. REED & I. FOLEY.

BUFFING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1910.

LIEN/25. Patented 0@I.26,1915.

IMM/555553 'M ciA Cep/MQ COLUMNA PLANOURAPH cc..wAsH|NuToN. D. c.

iran raras arret it- WILLIAM A. REED, 0F REVERE, AND JAMES FLEY, 0E CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COlVIlEANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION 0E NEW JERSEY.

BUFFING-MACI-rrnn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rat-eared oet?. se, rais..

Application filed March 7, 1910. Serial No. 547,904.

To all whom t may concern.' Be it known that we, WILLIAM A. Rian and JAMES FOLEY, citizens of the United States, residing at Revere,`in the county of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Chelsea, in thecounty of Suolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, re-- spectively, have invented certain Improvements in vBung-ldachines, of -which the following description, in connection with the accomivianying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating likeparts inthe several figures.

This invention relates to grinding or polishing machines and is herein shown as embodied in a machine for bufiing boots and shoes. f

ln suoli machines it is customary to make use of a rotary roll coveredwith-an abrasive material and to present thefvstock, for eX- ample, the sole of a shoe, #to this roll. It has been found that where longitudinal reciprocation is imparted to such a roll in addition to its rotation, a superior nish is imparted to the surface of the work and that the life of the abrasive vcovering of the roll is greatly prolonged. Accordingly machines have been designed from time to time in which theroll shaft has been reciprocated as well as rota-ted. These shafts, however, are heavy; the speed with which it is advantageous to rotate them is y high, (varying approximately from vthree thousand to forty-two hundred revolutions per minute) and the ratio of reciprocation to rotation, in order to produce satisfactory work is approximately one to eight. With a heavy shaft moving at high speed in the manner indicated above it is evident that any looseness which may for any reason develop in the bearings of the shaft or in the reciprocating mechanism will, unless special provision is made, tend rapidly to increase. Hitherto the iz'eciprocation of these shafts has been accomplished by positive actuation vfirst in one direction and then in the other. In the practical construction of such machines a certain small amount of lost motion'is almost certain to exist. Even if it does not then exist, it develops soon after the machine is put into use owing to the wear of the parts; and once having been developed it increases rapidly for the reasons stated above. rIhe disadvantages of such wear manifest themselves particularly in two ways, either one of which is suflicient to destroy the utility of the machine; first the machine soon becomes so noisy as to be unendurable by the operator and-second a wavy `surface is produced on the work owing to the fact that the roll shaft no longer runs true. y

Accordingly one object of this invention consists in a machine in this class of means for automatically taking up lost motion.

Any convenient means for accomplishing` this result may be employed. In the illustrat'ed embodiment a resilient member holds the bearing parts of the reciprocating mechanism at all times in intimate contact, thereby obvia'ting all pounding with its resultant noise and wear; and preferably the shaft itself is held between a positively actuated member and the resilient member so that it is positively actuated in one direction and yieldingly in the other.

ln a. high speed device of this type wherein a rotating shaft is also reciprocated eX- cessive friction is liable to occur between the shaft (or some part fast to it) and the member which causes said shaft to be reciprocated, this friction being due to the fact that the end (or some part) of the heavy, rapidly rotating shaft, at the moment of its reversal of direction of motion, grinds against the reciprocating mechanism with great force. Accordingly in order to minimize this tendency and to .promote still further the smooth ruiming qualities of the machine, another' object of this invention consists in the provision of a ball the approximate center of which is located in the axis of said shaft, and in the preferred embodiment two such balls are provided one at each end of the shaft. With this construction the excessive grinding action above referred to is largely obviated.

It is desirable that these balls be thoroughly lubricated, and another object of this invention consists in the provision of suitable oil receptacles and passages.

These and other features of the invention `justed position by a set screw 21.

with the forked arm 29 of said lever.

vbaiting machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 isa view partially in section showing the reciprocating mechanism more m detail. lMounted in the lower bearings of the frame 1 is a counter-shaft 2 to which power is applied as desired by a belt (not shown) which is adapted to engage fast and loose pulleys 3 and 4. Said counter-shaft carries also a pulley 5 from which the shankingout pad 6 is driven, an eccentric encircled by 'a strap 7 from which the rod 8 is actuated, and a pulley 9 from which the roll shaft 14 is rotated. Said roll shaft is slidably and rotatably mounted in bearings 10 and 11, and carries two operating members 12 and 13, herein shown as buliing rolls. Preferably this roll shaft is hollow, as shown in Fig. 2, and one end is counterbored to receive a. disk 15 which takes the thrust of a cushioning device herein shown asa coiled spring-16. Contacting with the opposite end of said spring and having a guiding projection extending into the coils thereof is a support 17 which'is free to rotatev as well as to move longitudinally with respect to the roll shaft. Said support is formed at the centerof its outer portion with a spherical socket and carries therein a ball 18. 1 lnorder to provide a rigid abutment for said ball, and likewise for said support and spring, a plug 19, having a shallow socket to receive said ball, is carried by an extension 2O of the bearing 11, said plug beingl adjustable to vary the tension of said spring and being held in ad- To the opposite end of the shaft a pulley 22 is fastened by means of a tapered pin 23; and held rigid with said pulley, and hence with said shaft, is a disk 24 which carries a ball 25 similar to the ball 18. In order to move said shaft in opposition to said spring a bell-crank lever 26 is pivoted at 27 to a bracket 28, said lever carrying a hardened plug 29 having a shallow concave socket to receive said ball. Actuation of the bellcrank lever is accomplished by means of the rod 8 which is connected by a swivel joint The pulley 22 isl rotated by a belt 30 which passes around the pulley 9.

With regard to the advantages of this construction, it should be noted that the springzis effective in all positions of the shaft since said spring is made strong lenough to hold the cooperating parts of the respective bearings at all times in intimate contact. Consequently `if some part of the reciprocating mechanism, for example, the pin 27, becomes worn the spring will auto matically take up the lost motion which would otherwise result and will thus minimize the tendency to further wear. lt should also be noted -that the balls 18 and 25v whichv are rotatable in their respective sockets afford a bearing of small area and reduce to a minimum the grinding action which would result if the parts 17, 19 and 24, 29 respectively made direct contact with each other.

1n order to lubricate the hearings of the balls 25 and 18 and thus still further contribute to the smooth running properties of the shaft, oil receptacles 31 and 33 are formed respectively in the bell crank lever 26 and the extension 20, while passages 31 and 35 lead to the respective balls. The shaft bearings are provided with oil receptacles 36 and 37.

1n operation rotation of the counter-shaft 2 causes actuation of the rod 8 and thereby oscillation of the bell-crank lever 2G. The roll shaft 14 is thus positively actuated in one direction and yieldingly in the opposite direction. The extent of the reciprocating movement is comparatively slight and does not interfere with the running of the belt 30 by which the roll shaft 14 is rotated.

The invention having been thus described what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is 1. A machine for bufiing boots and shoes having, in combination, a rotary and reciprocatory roll-shaft, a buiiing roll fast thereon, there being a. free and unobstructed space beneath said roll to permit manual presentation of a shoe, two balls between which said shaft is held, a yielding member in contact with one of said balls and adapted when permitted to hold said shaft to one limit of its reciprocatory movement, a bell crank lever having a hardened plug in con. tact with the other ball, and means for oscillating said lever and thereby moving said shaft in opposition to said yielding means.

2. A machine for bufling boots or shoes having, in combination, a shaft, a` buiiing roll mounted thereon, a lever pivoted to the frame and arranged when actuated to move said shaft in one direction, a ball mounted between said shaft and lever, a spring arranged to act in opposition to said lever, a support for said spring, a rigid abutment, a ball mounted between said support and abutment, and means for rotating said shaft and actuating said lever.

3. A machine for bufiing boots and shoes having, in combination, a buliing roll, a rotary shaft upon which said roll is mounted, said shaft being provided with a cylindrical socket in one end thereof, a support slidable and rotatable in said socket, a spring located in said socket and acting to force names to this specification in the presence of said support outwardly, a ball seated in the two subscribing Witnesses.

outer end of said support, an abutment hav- WILLIAM A. REED. ing :L corresponding seat for said ball, and JAMES FOLEY. means for intermittently moving said shaft Witnesses: in opposition to the force of said spring. CHESTER E. ROGERS,

ln testimony whereof We have signed our ALVAH C. SPENCER.

fopies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, JD. G. 

